Ruby Hayes - Ruby's Kitchen Table (Page 9)

Watercolor of a wooden shelf lined with sealed mason jars of golden peach preserves and red tomato sauce, above a painted cabinet in warm window light.

devotional

The top shelf

"Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days?" — Job 12:12 The jar was on the top shelf and I reached for it and my shoulder told me something I did not ask it to say. It was the peach preserves, the last jar from

Watercolor of a screened porch at dusk with a rocking chair and draped blanket, a potted lemon tree, warm light from the doorway, and a starlit sky over the garden.

devotional

Darker at six

"Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—in peace because they trust in you." — Isaiah 26:3 I noticed this morning that the house is darker at six than it was a month ago. Not by much. A few minutes, maybe. But I came downstairs and the

Watercolor of a late-August garden with drying bean vines, staked tomatoes, and squash plants along a dirt path, with open fields and a hazy tree line beyond the fence.

devotional

What the garden gives

"You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness." — Psalm 65:11 The garden this morning was quieter than it has been in weeks and I stood at the edge of it and noticed. The beans are done. I knew they were finishing when

Watercolor overhead view of an open Bible with ribbon markers on a wooden table, with reading glasses, a cup of coffee, a crocheted doily, and sunlight through a curtain.

devotional

Dwelling place

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." — Psalm 90:1-2 I read the Ninetieth Psalm this morning and I stopped at

Watercolor of an open journal with a fountain pen on a wooden table beside a cup of coffee and a lit oil lamp, with a view of rolling hills at dusk through the window.

devotional

Dear Hannah

"The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." — Zephaniah 3:17 Dear Hannah, You were three years old and you put

Watercolor of a farmhouse kitchen in morning light with a cat asleep on the windowsill, a steaming mug and fresh tomatoes on the counter, and the back door open to the garden.

devotional

The light this morning

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." — Psalm 34:4 The light through the kitchen window this morning was different and I sat with it for a while before I opened the journal. It is not the angle. It is

Watercolor of a farmhouse windowsill at dusk with a closed Bible and reading glasses, a lit lamp casting warm light, and a sunset sky with fireflies beyond the trees.

Sunday Letter

Sunday Evening

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful." — Colossians 3:15 It is Sunday evening and the first week of August is behind me. I am in the chair by the lamp and

Watercolor of a church pew with an open hymnal and a paper fan, stained glass light falling across the wood, with the pulpit and ceiling fan of a small sanctuary beyond.

devotional

At Trinity

"O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on

Watercolor of an empty Sunday school room in summer with folding chairs along the wall, a tin of crayons on a small table, a bookshelf, and sunlight streaming through the window.

devotional

The folder

"Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." — Matthew 19:14 There is a folder in the filing cabinet at the church office that I will pull out in a week

Watercolor of a garden row at dawn with dew-covered tomato vines heavy with ripe fruit, a dirt path between stakes, and misty hills in the distance.

devotional

Everything is ripe

"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground." — Hosea 10:12 Everything is ripe at the same time and nobody asked me if I was ready. I went out at six this morning because six is the window. By eight the heat has settled

Watercolor of a chipped enamel bowl of shelled butter beans on a weathered porch step, with dried bean pods beside it and a sunlit yard beyond.

devotional

What my mother used to say

"Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it." — Proverbs 15:17 My mother used to say that August is not a month for starting things. She said it the way she said most things, which was plainly, while doing

Watercolor of a farmhouse kitchen during canning season, with a steaming pot on the stove, empty mason jars, fresh tomatoes on a cutting board, and a curtained window.

devotional

Standing next to

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." — Isaiah 49:15 The smell of tomatoes cooking down is a smell that takes me back to a specific kitchen and